VODetails: ‘Penumbra’

VODetails: 'Penumbra'

More and more films premiere on Video on Demand — if they don't simply bypass a theatrical release altogether. Because VOD reviews are often scarce and hard to find, Criticwire created VODetails, a recurring column to help you figure out whether a new VOD release is worth your hard-earned dollar. This time we're looking at "Penumbra," a horror movie about a cult stalking a woman through a Buenos Aires apartment building. Even worse: the place isn't rent controlled.

Director: Adrian & Ramiro García Bogliano

Cast: Cristina Brondo, Camila Bordonaba, Sebastian Muniz

Official Synopsis: "Combining stylistic elements of classic Polanski with a contemporary vision that rivals anyone working in horror today, the Bogliano brothers' 'Penumbra' is a superbly realized South American horror slow-burner. Marga is a highly motivated, arrogant and successful businesswoman on assignment in Buenos Aires — a city she hates and whose people she loathes. While in the Argentina capital on a day the whole population is waiting to view a rare solar eclipse she must also find a new tenant for her family's decrepit apartment. Rapidly losing her patience waiting for one applicant she runs into the mysterious Jorge lurking outside the front door of the place who informs her that he has a client willing to pay four times what she is asking in rent. There's one catch — the paperwork must be signed immediately. As greedy Marga waits to complete the transaction several of Jorge's associates suspiciously appear at the apartment ready to strip the wallpaper. And what's behind the décor signals a startling fate worse than death — or should that be life!"

"The crumbling building and the conviction Brondo has that civilization in the city is following suit give 'Penumbra' an interesting undercurrent of privileged panic, but the film’s reveal is a disappointing anticlimax."

"Penumbra" is now available on VOD, and is playing in limited release.